Miracles welcome.

But 34th St. has already come a long way

If you head east from Eighth Avenue across the northern edge of 34th street, you can try Popeye's Fried Chicken (221 W. 34th) prior to visiting R.A.G Menswear (225 W. 34th). If your pockets are deeper, you can buy a Tag Heuer watch at Tourneau (220 W. 34th) and follow that up with some bluechip makeup at Sephora (132 W. 34th).

From the retail standpoint, 34th Street is a study in extremes. It caters to a variable consumer, above all, and is difficult to pigeonhole.

With the introduction of national tenants on the order of H & M, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Sephora, retail has come a long way from the days when strictly low-end merchandisers dominated the street. Though so-called "kiosks" (stalls that spill out on to the sidewalk hawking batteries, baseball caps, etc.) still exist in pockets, there is added retail sophistication in this area.

"This street is a great smorgasbord. You hale all sorts of retail and they all do well. And right in the middle you have Macy's," said Richard Cohan, broker from Ripco.

Smorgasbord about sums it up: K-Mart, Bag Man, Starbucks, Tad's Steaks, Old Navy, and Parade of Shoes are the retail version of a potluck dinner. But the street just cannot be written off on the basis of low-end merchandisers and restaurants.

"This is the highest sales volume retail district in Manhattan. You're talking true shopping. Over 10,000 people pass by the Herald Center every hour," said Peter Botsaris, president of Garrick-Aug store leasing.

On a walking tour led by members of the 34th Street Partnership -- a Business Improvement District (or BID) -- Botsaris' point was evident.

At 10 o'clock on a recent Friday morning, droves of pedestrians converged on the intersection of 34th Street and Eighth Avenue from the east, west, south and north. Due to newsstands situated next to the subway entrances there is limited space for foot traffic to pass by. It's a four-way bottleneck, with newsstands on all corners of the intersection, and it often forces the heavy foot traffic on to the street.

While this is encouraging news for retailers, it's a sore point for Dan Biederman of the 34th Street Partnership. Biederman founded the 34th Street Partnership in 1989 with Peter Malkin and Bernard Mendik. All told, the BID covers over 36 million SF of commercial space.

"We really are the public space management arm of the real estate industry," said Biederman, who was responsible for resuscitating Bryant Park years ago.

Biederman applied his Bryant Park approach to Herald and Greeley Squares, the two traffic islands that constitute the heart of the district here. These areas -- once occupied by drug abusers and homeless people -- have been reworked into two small parks that borrowed some Bryant Park elements (movable chairs and lavish gardens). The result is a bow-tie arrangement of parks that are clean and frequently used by office workers seeking an open-air lunch.

The fruits of his labor are noticeable here, though Biederman -- who is clearly a perfectionist -- sees plenty of room for improvement elsewhere.

"It can be hard sometimes to get the attention of the real estate industry because they have so many deals going on. But in uncertain times like now, when people are a bit nervous, we find them paying more attention," said Biederman.

His attention to detail is borderline obsessive-compulsive as he takes in a Rohrshach of scaffolds, signs, storefronts and fixtures.

At one point during the tour, Biederman paused over a patch of over-grown grass surrounding a tree.

"I told them to cut this grass a while ago," he said, taking out his Palm Pilot to record a coming reprimand.

Later on, the tour passed by a garbage can that was noticeably charred.

"There's a guy who likes to torch our garbage cans. I've told them to remove this can already," he said. Out came the Palm Pilot, in went the note, and on went the tour.

Dan Pisark, the vice president of retail services for the BID, accompanied Biederman. Between the two of them, the volume of observations and critiques being made were astounding. A two-year old scaffold reminded Biederman to call the building owner. A growing dispute between a landlord with a sidewalk shed and a merchant whose store was blocked by the shed became, in Biederman's words, "something we can mediate," and -- as it unfolded -- did mediate.

Pisark himself has had his ear to the retail ground zero for many years. He is, like Biederman, obsessed with the details.

"There are so many ways that we can come in and help a merchandiser rearrange their products so that more shoppers come into their stores," said Pisark.

The 34th Street Partnership staff includes someone whose sole job is to advise retailers on how they can better present their wares.

When it comes to the blocks themselves, there appears to be a retail pecking order.

"Historically, 34th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue has been the strongest block here, particularly on the north side of the street," said Robin Abrams, executive vice president of the Lansco retail services group.

This might be God's doing, since, as Abrams suggested, the sun favors this side of the street over the south.

In her appraisal, the south side of 34th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenue is the next best block for "high traffic."

"Sephora and Old Navy were the real pioneers here. And Banana Republic was a surprise," said Abrams.

Few discussions of 34th Street fail to mention the European apparel chain H & M, which leases space in the Marbridge Building on the corner of Sixth and 34th. The building is owned by RFR. Next to H & M at 57 West 34th is music merchandiser HMV. This is one of the strongest corners of the district, benefiting from the river of pedestrians passing through Herald Square.

It is also directly across the street from The Gap's cash-cow store at 60 West 34th. According to Faith Hope Consolo, vice-chairman of Garrick-Aug, this Gap is their "number-one revenue producer in the world."

Sources referred to 34th Street's "destination shopping" status as a recent development earned in the past few years. Unlike the Grand Central district, said Abrams, 34th Street caters to destination shoppers as opposed to commuters or simply people en route elsewhere. That could explain why strong tenants like Banana Republic, Old Navy and H & M lease space here.

The most visible symbol of the street -- or the city, for that matter -- is the Empire State Building. According to Richard Rust, the observatory director, 3.5 million people ventured to the top of the Empire State Building last year. That number has remained steady for the past few years, he said.

But the Empire State Building is known for it's height rather than it's retail that -- according to Faith Consolo -- is "dysfunctional."

"Because you have the old guard managing it. And that power struggle sets the tone for the street," said Consolo.

Consolo critiqued 34th Street for some deficiencies, namely in the books, dining, and home furnishings sector. Her advice was to "pay attention to the customers walking the streets here" in order to make retail choices.

34th street has several vacant properties. The single largest chunk is being vacated by Toys R Us, who leased 100,000 SF at the Herald Center (102 W.34th). The owner of the Herald Center, Joseph Jerome, would not comment on any prospective tenants here, though he said that "both national and regional tenants" would occupy the space.

Vornado is another major presence here on 34th street. They are now developing a site on the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 34th Street. Gordon Brant LLC, who handles Vomado retail here in Manhattan, would not comment on their agenda here.

Other vacancies exist between Fifth and Sixth, the largest being Labels For Less's old spot (40 W.34th). Lansco is marketing more than 26,000 SF of space here. Further east on the end of this block, Greenpoint Bank (1 W.34th) is vacating their space here.

From One Penn Plaza off of Eighth all the way east to the Empire State Building, 34th Street presents solid opportunities for those retailers willing to test the waters. Beyond this central business district, however, there is also movement -- in the form of residential commercial development.

"There is talk of developing a movie theater on the western side of 34th Street," said Robin Abrams, who also cited the residential developments in this area.

A work in progress, the 34th Street district is constantly changing and evolving, attracting some retailers while deterring others. In Pisark's philosophy, it's a simple equation when it comes to decent retail.

"If there is a critical mass of quality retail, the shoppers will come. You just don't need to hang banners," said Pisark.

"You have to focus on the basics. If the area is safe and secure, the shoppers will come," he said.